US Anti-Doping Agency To File Charges Against Lance Armstrong

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The US Anti-Doping Agency says its review board has made a unanimous recommendation to file formal doping charges against Lance Armstrong.

That will move the case to an arbitration hearing if Armstrong chooses to challenge, as he has indicated he would.

USADA confirmed the board’s recommendation Friday after one of its members, Clark Griffith, told The Associated Press he ‘‘can’t wait’’ to see what the arbitration panel thinks of the evidence.

Armstrong says he is innocent. His attorney, Robert Luskin, called the decision to formally charge Armstrong ‘‘wrong and it is baseless.’’

‘‘It is the entirely predictable product of USADA’s toxic obsession with Lance Armstrong and a process in which truth is not a priority,’’ Luskin said. ‘‘There is not one shred of credible evidence to support USADA’s charges and an unbroken record of more than 500 clean tests over more than a decade and a half to refute it.’’

USADA says it has evidence Armstrong was taking performance-enhancing drugs while winning the Tour de France from 1999-2005. This year’s Tour begins on Saturday.